https://bushiroad.co.jp/company/column/kidani/44

He talks about how impressed he was with Stardom's growth this year and that Bushiroad will promote and fund them even more next year.

Also an interesting note: the only Stardom wrestlers he follows on Twitter are Mayu, Tam, and Kamitani. I wouldn't be surprised to see Tall Saya winning the White Belt as early as 2021 barring injury.

Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker is being uploaded daily on the Japanese YouTube channel, and Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani tweeted that this is his favorite series! Check it out:

https://twitter.com/kidanit/status/1212212791634841600

Please help me and create petition for bring bask Cardfight online. They must hear us.

Here is a link to take a look at the interview it is translated to English. https://www.njpw1972.com/6690

He talks about how he feels Okada is in the top 3 of IWGP Heavyweight Champions

Excited for July 1st and 2nd show in Long Beach, CA says that the NJPW talent will bring the same style and matches to the people there.

If the shows are a success they already have plans for shows in the US in 2018.

When asked about global expansion talked about they have gone to New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan but their primary focus will be the United States but they are looking at other countries.

Calls the Okada v Omega match the big fight never seen something like that before and it is one of the greatest of all time.

Really enjoys Shibata one of his favorites as well as Ricochet.

In terms of wrestlers we will see in Long Beach anyone on the poster especially Okada, Tanahashi, Naito, and Kenny Omega.

He also announced that their maybe more tickets released in the future for the Long Beach show.

Voting criteria include the length of time spent in wrestling, historical significance, ability to attract viewers, and wrestling ability. Inductees must have at least 15 years of experience in the wrestling business or be over 35 years old and have 10 years of experience. Candidates must get at least 60% of the vote to be in the Hall of Fame.

• Kazuchika Okada: 92%

• Los Brazos ([Brazo de Oro](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazo_de_Oro_(wrestler), Brazo de Plata and El Brazo): 82%

• Jim Crockett Jr.: 82%

• [Don Owen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Owen_(wrestling): 61%

Candidates with a majority vote who did not cross the 60% threshold:

• Mistico/Caristico: 59.7%

• Sgt. Slaughter: 58%

• Rollerball Mark Rocco: 58%

• Bobby Davis: 56%

• Kota Ibushi: 54%

• Enrique Torres: 52%

/r/SquaredCircle favorites:

• Rick & Scott Steiner: 40%

• Tomohiro Ishii: 38%

• Tetsuya Naito: 38%

• C.M. Punk: 33%

• Jim Johnston: 33%

• Edge: 32%

• Randy Orton: 27%

• Tony Schiavone: 26%

• Matt & Jeff Hardy: 24%

Candidates who failed to secure at least 10% of the vote and are dropped from next year's ballot. They can rejoin the ballot if Dave feels that enough has changed to warrant re-inclusion.

• Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown w/Sir Oliver Humperdink)

• Buddy Colt

• Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn)

• Nikki Bella

• Charlotte Flair

• Kamala

• Rick Martel

• Jon Moxley

• Seth Rollins

• Ultimate Warrior

• Kyoko Inoue

• Katsuyori Shibata

• Takashi Sugiura

• Psycho Clown

• John DaSilva

• Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet

• Takaaki Kidani

• Stephanie McMahon

Additionally candidates can be dropped from the ballot if they've been on it for 15 years and did not secure at least 50% of the vote:

• Johnny “Mr. Wrestling II” Walker: 31%

Additions to the 2022 ballot:

• Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez

• Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood

• Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada

• Jack & Jerry Brisco

• Roman Reigns

• Becky Lynch

• Roy Welch

• Shingo Takagi

• Rossy Ogawa

https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-13-2021-observer-newsletter-jeff-hardy-released-wwe-death

Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Ataban Ibrahim, actually promoted wrestling shows in Iraq in the early 1980s. He was mentioned in relation to Irish wrestler Pat Barrett who was booked for a show there and refused to work it on the assumption he would be stiffed on his payment. Another of Saddam's half-brother's threatened his life if he did not work, so he did and he was actually paid in full.

Kyle O'Reilly leaving NXT was described as being a no-brainer for him. AEW will give him a comparable offer and there is no future for him in NXT or WWE unless they offer him a coaching position. He has been thinking it’s time to get out. Even if AEW pass on him, he is guaranteed a spot in New Japan as Takaaki Kidani loves him,

Kairi Sane’s contract has expired. WWE wanted to renew her deal and have her return and wrestle, but she didn’t want to live in the U.S and travel in the COVID era. She is 33 and has expressed interest in wrestling. Stardom would like to bring her back but nothing is set up in that direction right now.

For Canada In 18-34, Smackdown on 11/26 did 19,000, Raw on 11/29 did 10,000, NXT on 11/30 did 10,000, AEW Dynamite on 12/1 did 61,000, Smackdown on 12/3 did 5,000, Main Event on 12/3 did 5,000, Raw on 12/6 did 17,000 and NXT on 12/7 did 3,000. Dave notes the popularity of AEW in Canada with younger demos is huge compared to WWE and more than LA, the west coast etc running shows in big Canadian markets like Toronto and Montreal should be their priority.

When it comes to TV and PPV matches, Natalya is No. 1 with 487, followed by Alicia Fox at 337, Flair at 308, Banks at 298, Naomi at 289 and Bayley at 272.

For men, Glen Jacobs is at 928 combining Kane, Fake Diesel and Isaac Yankem, followed by Orton at 832, Show at 809, Kofi Kingston at 773, Ziggler at 754, Jericho at 746, Miz at 741, Cena at 692, Sheamus at 661, HHH at 647, Undertaker at 603, Matt Hardy at 599, Edge at 581, Mysterio at 579 and Cesaro at 573

The following is an excerpt from the latest "BREAKING NEWS UPDATE" posted by Joe Lanza of the Voices of Wrestling Flagship podcast on the VoW patreon. You can read the whole story at https://www.patreon.com/voicesofwrestling

>New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced a joint show with Pro Wrestling NOAH, complete with Wrestle Kingdom branding, for January 8, 2022 at Yokohama Arena. The show will be broadcast live via PPV on ABEMA (with English commentary options), with video on demand available on New Japan World seven days later. The show will presumably air at some point on Wrestle Universe as well, although as of this writing I could not confirm that.
>
>This idea has been roughly one year in the making. New Japan has been more open to working with other promotions since the Harold Meij exit, with Takami Ohbari being a big proponent of outside relationships (as we've seen with AEW and Impact Wrestling), which is the exact opposite philosophy Meij held. Ohbari made the pitch to Takaaki Kidani sometime in early 2021 for big cross promotional shows, with the idea of rejuvenating public interest in pro wrestling in a COVID-19 world, with a focus on charity and headlines ahead of profits (partial proceeds from the Yokohama show will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross). Kidani was on board, with the feeling that all promotions should come together to show that the industry is still strong in the face of the pandemic, settling on 2022 Wrestle Kingdom week as the starting point, and adding a third Wrestle Kingdom branded show to kick off both the series of cross promotional shows and New Japan's 50th Anniversary year in a big way.
>
>NOAH's involvement was spearheaded by Dick Togo and NOSAWA Rongai. Togo and Rongai are credited with smoothing over the residual heat from previous business dealings with New Japan that have held over with some of the NOAH office, including people like Naomichi Marufuji. Whatever uneasiness existed with working with New Japan was worked out, and according to a source close to Togo, NOAH's involvement in the Yokohama show was already set in stone by the time the date was announced. All of this was kept under wraps by both offices.
>
>The top stars on both sides (Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Keiji Muto, Katsuhiko Nakajima, KENOH, and Takashi Sugiura on the NOAH side, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, and Kota I

Since there's been a well-received write-up on BanG Dream! on this subreddit before, I'd like to share about a similar rhythm gacha game belonging to the same "family". This is a story about a franchise that seemed like it was destined for success right from the get-go, only for it to underperform compared to both fans' and executives' expectations.

What is D4DJ?

Dig Delight Direct Drive (D4DJ) is a Japanese multi-media franchise created by Bushiroad. Apart from having a mobile rhythm game (D4DJ Groovy Mix), a TV anime (D4DJ First Mix) and several spin-off manga, the franchise also releases original music from 6 DJ units who all perform live. If you read the BanG Dream! post previously, you'll notice that D4DJ has a similar "gimmick" to that franchise, where the actresses who voice the characters also regularly do live musical performances - except instead of bands, it's DJ and dance performances.

What is the Bushiroad family?

In the introduction, I mentioned that there is a Bushiroad "family" of franchises. The family consists of 3 major multi-media franchises (other than D4DJ) that were all created by Bushiroad:

• BanG Dream!

• Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight

• Cardfight Vanguard

The franchises in bold are very popular among both Japanese and worldwide fans. In March this year, when BanG Dream!'s Japanese server celebrated its fourth anniversary, it raked in EDIT: 688 million yen from fans (6.3 million USD) - and that was just one month's earnings. Revue Starlight, while less popular than BanG Dream!, definitely has its fans, with its first Blu-Ray volume outselling popular anime Banana Fish and ranking 3rd on its debut week.

These franchises are prime examples of Bushiroad's ability to create popular and long-lasting IPs, especially since new anime and games are dropping (and flopping) more frequently. In fact, BanG Dream! and Revue Starlight still have room for growth, with the introduction of 2 new live bands (Morfonica and Raise A Suilen) for BanG Dream! and a new stage play series (Seiran General Art Institute) for Revue Starlight.

A sure-win hit for Bushiroad?

Fans of BanG Dre

The 5STAR starts tomorrow and several personalities related to this business we love (love to hate and hate to love also) have made their choices regarding finalists, winners and dark horses of the tournament through the past two weeks. Here are the videos and the proposals of them all in the order there are on the YT page (don't know if I waas correct on their part):

• Samurai TV MC Miki Motoi (>!chooses Maika to win it all against Himeka in an all-DDM final, singles out SLK and Mayu as persons of interest in the tournament!<)
• NJPW's Ryusuke Taguchi and Tomoaki Honma (>!Honma singles out Koguma and Taguchi singles out Konami as their persons of interest, Honma chooses Mayu vs Saya as the final with Saya winning, Taguchi thinks the final will be Mina vs Tam in an all-Kozuen final with White Belt champion and leader Tam winning!<)
• Tokyo Sports' reporter Kosaka (>!singles out Koguma, Takumi and Syuri as his persons of interest, not forgetting about Joshi MVP Giulia, who may just be the most dangerous person in the tournament!<)
• Shupro's Eiichi Narukawa (>!goes all in on a Iwatani/Iroha V with Mayu winning just like in October of last year, thereby nullifiying her defeat in the 2015 edition of the tournament!<)
• Freelance journalist Munehiro Hashimoto (>!goes with a Himeka/Iroha final with Jumbo winning it all in the end!<)
• STARDOM ring announcer Yurie Kozakai (>!chooses Himeka to win it all, but also is rallying behind DDM as a whole!<)
• Samurai TV's Murayama Penguin (>!bets on a Mayu/Saya final with Saya winning!<)
• NJPW's Yuji Nagata (>!he's secretly supporting Mina but he goes to the Mayu/Syuri final with Mayu winning it!<)
• NJPW's Hiroyoshi Tenzan (>!he's going with a final between the tag champions, with Syuri winning it!<)
• Bushiroad's founder and president Takaaki Kidani (>!the owner chooses a Kamitani/SLK final with Kamitani winning it!<)
• [NJPW legend and WWE Hall of Famer Jushin "Thunder" Liger](https://www.youtub

What is BanG Dream!?

BanG Dream! (the exclamation mark is part of the name) is a media franchise created by Bushiroad. Among fans of idol-type anime, it is notable for 1) utilizing actresses who actually perform live with musical instruments, and 2) its fans being insistent in not calling it an idol anime, because these are bands, not idols. Though to add to the confusion, there is a band with an idol aesthetic, known as Pastel*Palettes.

All the main characters are female, though there is a separate male spinoff (much like The Idolmaster).

Who is Lisa Imai?

Lisa is one of the characters in BanG Dream! She is the bassist of the band Roselia (not to be confused with the Pokemon of the same name). She is seen as the "mother figure" of Roselia, taking care of everyone in the band. One story had her absent from band practice due to having to cover a coworker's shift, and she returned to find that her bandmates had regressed into a feral state, hooting and grunting and T-posing to assert dominance. ^(ok, they just spilt some milk and tripped over some cables, but the point is they can't do anything without Lisa around. BanG Dream! is not nearly this absurd. Mostly.)

Lisa shares some similarities to Saaya, the drummer of the band Poppin'Party. Both are the mother figures of their respective bands, and both like baking (Lisa cookies, Saaya bread). One key difference is that Saaya has siblings, which her maternal instincts are attributed to, while Lisa doesn't, and her maternal instincts are attributed to taking care of her socially awkward childhood friend and bandmate, Yukina.

Until Lisabro.

Lisabro

Lisa was never mentioned (or even implied) to have any siblings for almost two and a half years, until October 11 2019, when, in the "Do It Ourselves!!" story, she said that she was knitting a scarf for her younger brother.

Fans exploded at this revelation, as it was completely unforeseen. They began digging through past stories, searching for evidence against the existence of Lisabro. And did they find it. Plenty of times, when the conversation turned to siblings or younger kids, Lisa never mentioned her brother. She was not the type to hide things or lie by omission, so this contradicted Lisabro.

Other fans tried to find explanations reconciling Lisabro with existing canon.

Takaaki Kidani, Big Swinging Dick

Takaaki Kidani is the founder and president of Bushiroad, and

Hi everyone ! This is my first post on reddit !
The main reason I wanted to join this forum was to spread puroresu love, at first I was thinking about doing appretiation threads about the likes of Shinya Hashimoto and Akira Maeda as I felt that these two doesn't get enough credit for their incredible careers. But after realising that there are so much stuff that I haven't seen yet I just said « screw it I'm just going to do one for my Hero, as I've followed his wrestling career closely » I'm going to send you links to his best matches, if I didn't labelled a match with the word [recommended] you can skip it.
Anyways why exactly did I choose Kazushi Sakuraba of all people ? Not very simple to explain, YES HE IS my favourite mma fighter of all times, a once a lifetime talent who was willing to fight anyone having victories over bigger opponents, sometimes beating them at their own games but... I'm not here to talk about his mma career. Saku also happens to be great in the squarred circle, he was great in his early years and now is one of the most unique technician around.
I know technical wrestling is not very popular in the U.S. but to me it will always be the right path. Wrestling is supposed to be about actual wrestling, not high spots, I'm sorry but it's the truth. In case you want to tell me how mat-work is boring, go watch some tapes of Skayde, Johnny Saint or 1957s French Wrestling With so many injuries that have been caused by dives recently, I'm hoping the matches that I'm about to show you will give you a breath of fresh air.

Anyways... what's is really interresting about his career is the fact that he has two Pro wrestling runs with a MMA career in the middle just like Shibata but the difference between both guys PW's career is that Shibata in 2003 and Shibata in 2017 was the same, whereas Sakuraba's approach to pro wrestling has changed a lot in his 2nd run. Saku's ability to adapt to the evolving landscape of the business is the reason why he's able to work everywhere despite not having learn the traditional pro wrestling training.
Disclaimer : If you're not familiar with the « Gracie Hunter », skip right up until 2013 and start with his New Japan matches, that's how I was introduced to the character myself, and that's how I got into technical wrestling and martial arts.
The birth of a Lion :
It all started in the early 90s, when Saku joined the dojo of **Union

The following is an excerpt from the latest "BREAKING NEWS UPDATE" posted by Joe Lanza of the Voices of Wrestling Flagship podcast on the VoW patreon. You can read the whole story at https://www.patreon.com/voicesofwrestling

>New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced a joint show with Pro Wrestling NOAH, complete with Wrestle Kingdom branding, for January 8, 2022 at Yokohama Arena. The show will be broadcast live via PPV on ABEMA (with English commentary options), with video on demand available on New Japan World seven days later. The show will presumably air at some point on Wrestle Universe as well, although as of this writing I could not confirm that.
>
>This idea has been roughly one year in the making. New Japan has been more open to working with other promotions since the Harold Meij exit, with Takami Ohbari being a big proponent of outside relationships (as we've seen with AEW and Impact Wrestling), which is the exact opposite philosophy Meij held. Ohbari made the pitch to Takaaki Kidani sometime in early 2021 for big cross promotional shows, with the idea of rejuvenating public interest in pro wrestling in a COVID-19 world, with a focus on charity and headlines ahead of profits (partial proceeds from the Yokohama show will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross). Kidani was on board, with the feeling that all promotions should come together to show that the industry is still strong in the face of the pandemic, settling on 2022 Wrestle Kingdom week as the starting point, and adding a third Wrestle Kingdom branded show to kick off both the series of cross promotional shows and New Japan's 50th Anniversary year in a big way.
>
>NOAH's involvement was spearheaded by Dick Togo and NOSAWA Rongai. Togo and Rongai are credited with smoothing over the residual heat from previous business dealings with New Japan that have held over with some of the NOAH office, including people like Naomichi Marufuji. Whatever uneasiness existed with working with New Japan was worked out, and according to a source close to Togo, NOAH's involvement in the Yokohama show was already set in stone by the time the date was announced. All of this was kept under wraps by both offices.
>
>The top stars on both sides (Marufuji, Kaito Kiyomiya, Keiji Muto, Katsuhiko Nakajima, KENOH, and Takashi Sugiura on the NOAH side, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, and Kota